Longer Terms for Interim Appointees?

A proposed ordinance would permit extension of the current 90-day "acting" term limit for an additional 90 days.

Plaintalker had a surge of hope that the change would keep Acting City Administrator David Kochel at the Queen City's helm past the Aug. 11 expiration of his term, but the ordinance must pass on two readings and then would take effect in 20 days. The timing appears to be wrong for Plaintalker's wish to come true, as the City Council will vote Monday on the ordinance and then does not meet to vote again until Aug. 15. Maybe there will be a special meeting that will hasten the process.

Since January, three people have sat in the city administrator's chair. Due to a sudden vacancy caused by former City Administrator Bibi Taylor's decision not to return after maternity leave, Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson was named acting city administrator on Jan. 1. When his 90-day term was up, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs named herself acting city administrator.

Kochel came on May11 and those who attend council meetings have seen the difference between various officials stepping in and having a seasoned administrator in charge of day-to-day operations of the city. See Plaintalker's report on Kochel's advent here.

Interim or acting appointments have been a thorny issue through several administrations. Some mayors have initially filled entire cabinets, including the city administrator and all three department heads, with acting appointments, which do not require confirmation by the governing body. Others have allowed top officials to cover two cabinet posts for many months, which was what prompted limits in the first place. A 180-day limit several years ago was changed to 90 days in part to force mayoral submission of names to the governing body for advice and consent.

Upon taking office in 2006, Robinson-Briggs chose to make acting cabinet appointments, but had to put her nominees up for council approval in March. Her first four-year term was marked by high turnover in top posts, which has continued into her second term. For example, over six years the duties of the Department of Administration, Finance, Health & Senior Services were handed off seven times, twice to former City Administrator Marc Dashield as additional responsibilities.

The mayor still has about two and a half years to go in her second term and could conceivably fill vacancies with "permanent" appointments for that span of time. Obviously, the key position to be filled is city administrator, to whom the three department heads mandated in the city's special charter report. The proposed ordinance may only give relief in the short term.

--Bernice